Counselling And Enabling

Counselling is best described as Active Listening. It is the process by which we give ourselves to another in a way that says we are listening to them. Perhaps we advise young people or colleagues, perhaps we are talking to a bereaved relative or friend. In all these scenarios and more, when we listen to someone describe the problems they are facing, we are in the counselling process. We are not unique or special when we counsel someone, we are a friend indeed to a friend in need. Having thirty years experience both working as a counsellor and training others, I believe that through learning the underlying communication skills that are fundamental to the counselling process, and combining them with a moderate amount of life and social experience, we can all become competent to counsel those in need. That is the aim of this book, to help the reader acquire the skills, necessary to counsel others, either in their everyday life or as part of a role within the caring professions.